All Treats, No Tricks! The Top Halloween Retail Trends of 2019

What’s scary, sweet and worth a lot of money? Halloween might have traditionally derived from ancient Celtic harvest festivals, but it could prove scary for retailers that choose to ignore its full potential. Here are the top Halloween retail trends of 2019.

Haunt Couture: America Halloween Retail Trends

The National Retail Federation’s (NRF) annual Halloween survey, conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, explored the American trends set to take this year by storm. Shoppers say they will spend an average of $86.27 each this Halloween (a figure which is down just slightly from $86.79 in 2018). So how does that translate into spending? The breakdown of each category is suggested as $31.05 on costumes, $26.03 for decorations, $25.37 on sweets and $3.82 on greetings cards, showing a shift away from the perception that Halloween is merely celebrated as a food and drink event, allowing more scope for retailers to cash in.

But how are consumers looking to participate? 69% plan to celebrate by handing out sweets, with 49% planning on decorating their homes, 44% will carve a pumpkin, 32% will throw or attend a party, 29% will take their children trick-or-treating, 22% will visit a haunted house and 47% are planning on dressing in costume. And it’s not just the humans – 17% of people plan to dress their pet in costume too, with the most popular pet costumes including pumpkins, hotdogs and superheroes. Whilst 35% of those surveyed cited online search as their top source of costume inspiration, the most popular adult costumes don’t really deviate from the most traditional: 8.9% said they planned on going as a witch, with 3.6% dressing as vampires and 3.1% as superheroes.

Historically, the UK has a tendency to mirror the USA’s retail trends, so it’s interesting to see the rise of 18-24 year olds planning on taking part this year; although Halloween might be associated more with children going trick-or-treating, there’s a rise of young adults participating, with 66% of 18-24-year-olds in 2009 to 73% in 2019. Is this something that we’ll see mirrored on our side of the pond this year?

Spooky Figures? UK Halloween Retail Trends

In 2018, Halloween proved a real treat for retailers; although traditionally more of an American holiday than one celebrated on our side of the Atlantic, 51.5% of UK consumers spent on the occasion. Emily Salter, Retail Analyst for GlobalData, who conducted the survey, said: “More consumers bought clothing and costumes, driven by 16-34 year olds participating in Halloween events where dressing up is encouraged. Additionally, clothing retailers including ASOS and Topshop launched Halloween discounts across their websites on the day of the event, using the occasion as an excuse to drive sales across the board.”

And it’s not just online opportunities for brands to take part; with Halloween now the third biggest retail event (behind Christmas and Easter), it means that bricks-and-mortar retailers have an opportunity to engage with their customer base.

Ojay McDonald, Chief Executive at the Association of Town and City Management, said: “Halloween is hugely popular and carries big potential for town centres. This includes retailers selling related products in the run up to the 31st October which can boost sales, but also the opportunity to host some great events that draw people into town on the big night. It’s a great chance to showcase a town in all its spooky glory just as the busy Christmas period begins to kick in.”

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